Palm abandons first-generation Foleo mobile companion

Little over a week after Palm reiterated that the Foleo was still on track and due to come out this summer, CEO Ed Colligan posted a message on the company's blog today indicating that they are abandoning its much-criticized pseudo-laptop device to focus on its next-generation platform for smart phones:

"In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts. To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering out next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market," he said.The Foleo had a terrible pre-release reception among Palm enthusiasts when it was first announced at the D: All Things Digital conference in May, who pointed at the device’s high price and weak multimedia capabilities. Even tough as a result of cancelling the product the company will take a $10 million hit, it might be the right move for Palm to focus on its smart phone devices amid tough competition from Apple and others.